Tag Archives: Son

When I read The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger, I thought it was a trilogy. I had thought the story to be pretty well wrapped up at the end of Messenger, to be honest. I was more than happy, nevertheless, to find out I was wrong. Not only am I a big fan of Lois Lowry, but I have a major weakness for dystopias!

This story begins in the same society as The Giver, but Jonah is not the main character. Instead, we see the society through the eyes of a young girl named Clair. We are with Clair as she gets her work assignment — to be a birthmother — and also when the delivery of the “product” she was carrying goes wrong and results in a Cesarean. Although she is made to wear a mask and can’t see the baby, she manages to find out that her baby, #36, was a boy. A son. Her love and longing for her son is unheard of in that society, so she has to pretend not to think about him and can never admit that she dreams about being able to raise him as her own. I can’t say much more without major spoilers, but rest assured that this tale will reunite characters from all of the books in the series while demonstrating the lengths to which a mother will go for her child.